This Magazine invites news column pitches for the January issue. Looking for background/context to national issues, challenges to mainstream media perspective, and important untold stories. Short columns: more journalistic (650-800 words, payment: $50); long columns: more personal or creative nonfiction (1200-1500 words, payment: $75). Canadian writers only. Deadline: December 15, 2012.

Bi-annual literary magazine Papercuts seeks poetry and fiction submissions for their 11th issue. Deadline: Theme: “Prequel.” Looking for writing that “uncovers the back-story; that returns to the point where everything started”: births, origins, beginnings. December 5, 2012.

Entries are open for the 2012-2013 Friends of the Merril Short Story Contest. Seeking innovative, inclusive, original fiction. Prizes include cash ($350 CDN total), chances to pitch a novel to ChiZine Publications, and more. Length: 5000 words max. Entry fee: $5 per entry. Deadline February 15, 2013. Guidelines

Art and spirituality magazine Stone Voices (US) invites submissions of non-fiction, fiction, and poetry for their 2013 Summer Art Exhibition and Literary Showcase. Theme: The River. Submit one piece of prose (2500 words max.) or two poems. Deadline: February 15, 2013. Entry fee: $15. Selected entrants will be published in the magazine, and will receive a subscription and a year of free advertising.

SB Quarterly invites submissions for their 31st issue. Theme: Interrogating the relationship between electricity and empathy. “Can compassion be conveyed through iPhones, playbooks, or the world wide web?” Open to poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, film, and visual art. Deadline: February 1, 2013.

Submissions are being accepted for the “The Worst Poetry Magazine Ever!” (US). Looking for the worst in poetry, prose, lyrics, illustrations, rants, etc. 100% anonymous. To submit or for more information contact Nina at theWPME@gmail.com. Deadline: January 4, 2013.

McGill University’s English department invites creative submissions to their annual graduate student conference in Montreal from February 15-17, 2013: Labyrinths: Navigating Complexity Across the Humanities. Seeks work dealing with the idea of labyrinths and/or the concept of complexity (full list of appropriate themes and topics on website). Send a 150-word abstract and a brief bio to labyrinths2013@gmail.com by December 1, 2012.

Independent arts magazine Broken Pencil is accepting short stories for Deathmatch 2013. Top eight selected entrants are pitted against each other two by two, and winner is decided via website voting. Authors participate in a blog where they can hype up their own story or trash-talk their opponent’s writing. Prize: an “indie writer’s makeover” and cash. Deadline: December 31, 2012.

Branch Magazine (MB/QC) is open to submissions in English or French from Canadian writers. Theme: Mythology. Accepts open-form poetry and prose. Length: 100-1500 words. Submit three pieces max. Deadline: March 1, 2013.

Cha (UK and China) invites entries for their ‘Betrayal’ poetry contest. First prize: £85; additional prizes available. All winning poems published in a special section in the March 2013 issue. Deadline: January 15, 2013. Free entry for up to two poems.